Speeches by Reynolds.

“You were making a distinction between the Association of Convenience Stores and some of the big retailers and big supermarkets.”

“That is a very big question. First, let me say that we do not want this poverty premium, as you described it, to exist. I see no evidence—but tell me otherwise—that the big supermarkets are stopping using cash. As far as I am aware, if you shop in a big supermarket—”

“No. I have been very clear that we have no plans to compel businesses to accept cash. First, it is the access to cash regime, and it is also trying to ensure that, through the financial inclusion strategy, we help those who are financially excluded as much as we possibly can.”

“We want to work with the vulnerable consumers that you have heard evidence from. We want to ensure that there is access to cash, which in turn helps with acceptance of cash in the way that I have suggested.”

“I am always happy to nudge, Mr Glen. First, let us say that we want a very competitive market. Actually, the great strength of the UK, as you know very well, is that we do have challengers in the system. Certainly in the banking world, we have challengers; I was meeting one yesterday. Some of these challengers describe…”

“It really comes back to Mr Dean’s question. We have not modelled a scenario that we are not planning for. We are not planning for a cashless society. You have heard evidence from the Association of Convenience Stores that the vast majority of their stores accept cash and are planning to do so in the future. That is why…”

“You asked a number of questions. Maybe I can pick up on the first question, which was about national security and resilience, and then come on to your second set of questions. I am glad that you raised this issue, because we wanted to have the opportunity to say that regulators have very high expectations and set high …”

“Thank you for the question; it is really pertinent. We want to see as much competition as possible in this area. We do not want to see small businesses facing high fees. We want to see the lowest fees possible for small businesses, because we want to see small businesses grow and employ more people. We want economic gr…”

“Yes. I have heard those concerns, but obviously in Government you have to balance that against other priorities. Yes, I will come back when I have had a bit more than two weeks. I also need to talk to the industry, which I have not yet done in this current role.”

“I have not bought any crypto. It is entirely up to consumers how they invest their money. If I had much money to invest, my preference would be to invest in things that have underlying value. I have my own views about crypto, but this is quite a complex issue.”

“The position in the UK has not changed. The previous Government and the current Government support the Bank of England’s plans to develop a central bank digital currency. I have my own views about crypto and the issues surrounding that, but maybe that is an issue for another day, if that is okay.”

“I have not recused myself from any issues in this role or the previous role, for I have no ongoing financial interest.”

“The essential principle is that only if you have an ongoing financial interest should you recuse yourself from policy decisions. I have no ongoing financial interest at TheCityUK. They employed me before my election, I resigned my position at TheCityUK upon my election, and therefore I have not recused myself on any po…”

“Yes. There is the foreign influence registration scheme, which was an ongoing discussion in the previous Government, and it is all about the trade-offs and balance between national security and economic growth. That is at the heart of it, but let me just say that this was not about Chinese activity here; it was about f…”

“Thank you for the opportunity to clear this up. The first thing to say is do not believe everything you read in the newspapers. I did not represent Chinese business and I have never represented the Chinese Government. I was representing UK businesses and UK-based financial services. The work that I did in the City befo…”

“We are very interested in international comparisons but there is a limit to how relevant they are, because obviously we have our own individual circumstances. I know that in Sweden they were thinking of moving to a cashless society; there was a sense that they went too quickly and then had to rewind. That is why I was …”

“As I said, the focus of the Government is on the access to cash regime, which does relate to the acceptance of cash because, if businesses do not have places to go to deposit cash, that is when they stop accepting cash. We are absolutely determined to ensure that banking hubs and deposit machines are available to small…”

“Again, I read the oral evidence given on this, but I do not really know what the definition of “essential services” is. Where does it start and where does it end? It seems like you have also received evidence around that. As I said previously, we do not have plans to compel business. It would be very difficult to come …”

“As I said previously, I read the public oral evidence you got from the representatives of victims-survivors, and it was very moving. It is something that we will look at carefully. We are absolutely committed to rooting out economic abuse, but we know it is a big problem and my heart really goes out to the women in tho…”

“We have not done an impact assessment of a scenario that we are not planning for, because, as I have said, the focus has been on the access to cash regime. We cannot, on the one hand, have our focus on the access to cash regime and then do a risk assessment of a cashless society. I do not think we are anywhere near hav…”